Neumayer Station III - The end of the World

A cover that I had sent to Neumayer Station III - a German research base in South Atlantic Ocean in Antarctica . 

The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research is located in Bremerhaven, Germany, and a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. It conducts research in the Arctic, the Antarctic, and the high and mid latitude oceans. Additional research topics are: North Sea research, marine biological monitoring, and technical marine developments. The institute was founded in 1980 and is named after meteorologist, climatologist, and geologist Alfred Wegener.

The institute has three major departments: 

• Climate System Department, which studies oceans, ice and atmosphere as physical and chemical systems.
• Biosciences Department, which studies the biological processes in marine and coastal ecosystems.
• Geoscientific Department, which studies climate development, especially as revealed by sediments.

The Neumayer-Station III located at  about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) away from the previous station, Neumayer II which is now abandoned and covered by a thick ice cover. The new station is a futuristic-looking combined platform above the snow surface offering space for research, operations, and living since 2009. The station stands on 16 hydraulic posts which are used to adjust the building to the growing snow cover. Below the station PistenBullys and other equipment are stored an underground garage. In summer, the station can host up to 40 people. The station contains several laboratories, has a weather balloon launching facility, and a hospital with telemedical equipment.

One cannot send philatelic mail directly to Neumayer III. Instead one needs to send it to the Alfred-Wegner Institute in Bremerhaven with a note requesting that the cover be sent back to you from Neumayer III. The cover will be brought to Neurmayer where they apply their base stamp and then returned to Bremerhaven where the stamp is postmarked and the cover placed in the mail stream.

Every expedition prepares a unique logo for themeselves - this one has been stamped on my envelope !!